BOOKS I FINISHED - FEBRUARY 2017

Calm My Anxious Heart: A Woman's Guide to Finding Contentment, written by Linda Dillow

This book talks about about contentment in various areas, the differences between faith and worry, and trusting God through the questions of life. It includes a twelve week Bible study for those who want to dig a little deeper, but I just read the main book.

p. 26, Two women looked through prison bars / One saw mud, the other stars (quoting Mary W. Tileston's Daily Strength for Daily Needs, which quotes E. B. Posey)

p. 73, By replying, "I distinctly remember forgetting it," Clara Barton was saying, "I remember choosing to forgive and I still choose to forgive."

p. 75, These verses didn't say that I had to feel loving but that I was to decide to love, decide to honor. To bless is a choice of my will. (referencing Romans 12:9-10, 14, 18)

p. 93, We tell our children, "Don't complain," but do we practice what we preach?

p. 94, Our giving should not be like an overflow valve on our wealth, only giving the excess of a hoarded supply. Rather, it should be like a loosened drain plug that regularly and continually lets our resources flow to others.

p. 103, As Goethe, the German philosopher, put it: "The things which matter most must never be at the mercy of the things which matter least."

p. 121, Perhaps the most striking characteristic of worry is its absolute impotence. Worry never changes a single thing except the worrier.

I Will Find You: A Reporter Investigates the Life of the Man Who Raped Her, written by Joanna Connors

After having a breakdown while taking her daughter to visit college campuses, Connors realizes she needs to tell her kids that she'd been raped decades earlier. Not only that, she determines to learn more about the man whose assault radically changed her life. At times hard to read, I think it's a valuable look at the brokenness and hardship that often surrounds violent offenders and the strength of a woman learning to deal with trauma in a healthy way.

Me Before You, written by Jojo Moyes

An easy going woman contentedly living an ordinary life and a man accustomed to living large, but now bitterly confined to a wheelchair, are the two main characters in this story. Life is messy and love is inconvenient. I rarely cry over books, but I shed many tears over this one. I've found myself thinking about all the characters and the decisions they made along the way in the days since finishing the book, wondering what I would do if I was in each of their places. We just never know how we'll handle a given situation until we're in it ourselves.



Unashamed, written by Lecrae

Silas, Devon, and I all read this book by one of their favorite artists. With a past littered with the fallout of  both things done to him and his own foolish choices, Lecrae has come out on the other side as a man with a solid faith in Jesus, a freedom to love people without needing their approval, and a confidence in his art.

 p. 59, If you don't know you're lost, you can't be led. And if you can't be honest, you can't be healed. Before I could be rescued, I needed to realize I was stranded.

p. 62, College allows you to make better decisions, better friends, and a better future. There's only one catch: when the opportunity comes, you actually have to take it.

p. 73, Sometimes God lets the darkness settle before He pierces it with light.

p. 103, Your true character is revealed not by how you act when life goes your way, but how you act when the bottom falls out.

p. 152, Because I saw her as a reflection of myself, I was trying to manage her instead of loving her enough to let her be who God made her to be.

p. 176, But the critics didn't know the whole story. Critics almost never do.

p. 181, You know your heart is in trouble when luxuries become expectations.

Untethered, written by Julie Lawson Timmer

A teenager whose father just died. A step-mom who has no legal right to the teenager she loves. A mom wrapped up in herself. A young girl going through some major struggles. Desperate parents who make foolish decisions because admitting the need for help carries great risk.

KID BOOKS WE LIKED

Hippopposites & Rhymocerus, both written and illustrated by Janik Coat

The Homelander's series, written by Andrew Klavan

My Rows & Piles of Coins, written by Tololwa M. Mollel and illustrated by E.B. Lewis

Words, written and illustrated by Christoph Niemann

Yasmin's Hammer, written by Ann Malaspina and illustrated by Doug Chayka

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2/27/17 - WORTH REPEATING

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What it means to live a whole life of repentance is to constantly be asking, "What in the Scripture do I not want to hear?" As I come to the text of the Bible, as I'm reading the Word of God, I am asking myself, "What in this text do I not want to believe?" Because if we don't know the answer to that question it means we are not having the Word of God diagnose us in our sinfulness.

Russell Moore in Signposts: How to Be Changed by the Word of God at Russell Moore

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It's better to learn that wet pavement is slippery when you are running, not when you first get behind the wheel of a car.

~ Dr. Mariana Brussoni quoted in Pushing Limits, written by Jennifer King Lindley in Family Fun - October 2016 (speaking of the importance of kids having the freedom to take risks)

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Salvation is an event, but deliverance is a process.

~ Levi Lusko on Air 1


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A good day is a good day. A bad day is a good lesson. At the end of the day ... it's all good!

~ Shandell Clapson quoting someone else.


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“I wish I could be involved in some mercy ministry. That would be more meaningful.”

Ah, but you are. Mothers have so many opportunities to extend mercy that they all run together. What is a hot meal on the table but a huge mercy? What is a clean pair of socks but more mercy? What is changing a soiled diaper on a child who can’t even say, “Thanks, Mom” but mercy upon mercy? What is baking a pie to serve to your people but pure, undefiled mercy? I hope you get the idea. The mercy you extend to your family is very meaningful for them. You are blessing them. And once you determine to see it that way, you will find the blessing that is waiting for you in it as well.

~ Nancy Wilson in Thinking Thoughts at Femina Girls quoted by Tracy Grossman in Take Mealtime From Mundane to Ministry at Mom on Purpose

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THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful for the internet.

What's something that you're thankful for?

SKYPE + BIBLE = SKYBLE

One August Beep asked if I'd be interested in doing a weekly Bible study with her, a proposal I quickly accepted. Given that we live on different continents, we meet once a week via Skype on our computers, which is how I coined the term "Skyble study".

We're still having a weekly Skyble study three and a half years later and have studied a mix of things, from a focused Bible study to whole books of the Bible to books written by Christian authors. We each read a chapter on our own time, then come together once a week to go over it together. We share which parts stood out to us (it's uncanny how often we underline the same things), ask questions, remind each other of related Bible verses, and so on.

Partly to help myself keep track of what we've completed and partly to give ideas to those of you who may be looking for some ideas, I'm going to share what Beep and I have studied together so far. I'll also include some verses and quotes that stood out in each study, although it will be challenging to narrow it down to just a few.

OLIVES
First we zeroed in on olives trees in the Bible using a study my sister had found online and downloaded for us. We didn't complete the study and I can't find it online anymore, but I did a blog post at the time about comparing our spiritual lives to characteristics of an olive tree.

Psalm 52:8 But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God's unfailing love for ever and ever.

MATTHEW
Next we worked our way through the book of Matthew in our Bibles. We didn't use any particular study plan or method, but just read a chapter or two each week and then talked with each other about it. I shared a few highlights from that study in a blog post while we were going through the book.

6:33-34, But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

22:37-39, Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

THE COMPLETE GREEN LETTERS
Beep had read The Complete Green Letters, written by Miles J. Sanford, for school many years earlier. She was interested in going through it again and I'd never heard of it, so that was our third study. The whole book is about spiritual growth - knowing and standing on Biblical truth, understanding who we are in Christ, and being changed by God from the inside out instead of on our own from the outside in. I loved this book and have been thinking of reading it again soon because I need to be reminded of those things from time to time. I'm also going to have it be required reading for all the little Ws at some point in their teens.

p. 3, Moreover, and this is all-important, true faith must be based solely on scriptural facts, for "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Rom. 10:17). Unless our faith is established on facts, it is no more than conjecture, superstition, speculation, or presumption.

p. 113, The believer who rests in his position rather than his condition, who abides in his risen Lord in the presence of the Father, is growing spiritually.

p. 170, But when our knowledge of our Father is Bible-based, we are able to evaluate our circumstances and personal condition in the light of who He is. Then there is rest and joy in Him no matter what the situation may be. To know Him is to trust and love Him. Calvary is the proof of His love for us, even if there were no other indication or if all other indications were to the contrary.

p. 200, Our Father's ultimate purpose in saving us is that we might be conformed to the image of His Son, not simply to keep us out of hell and get us into heaven. We have been born into Christ that He may be our life, not just our Savior.

PRAYER: DOES IT MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE?
I'd somehow acquired a copy of Philip Yancey's Prayer: Does It Make A Difference? and had thought Reaching for the Invisible God: What Can We Expect to Find?, another book of his, was great when I read it on Beep's recommendations back in 2010. So Prayer became our fourth study. We read about why and how to pray, obstacles to prayer, and its effects on both ourselves and God. Pointing to what the Bible teaches and giving practical suggestions is balanced with an honest admission of what he doesn't understand and what he personally struggles with, a down-to-earth approach that I found helpful and encouraging in the two books of his that I've read. Like Green Letters, I plan on reading this one again and having our kids read it. 

p. 42, Prayer invites me to bring my whole life into God's presence for cleansing and restoration. Self-exposure is never easy, but when I do it I learn that underneath the layers of grime lies a damaged work of art that God longs to repair.

p. 161, Prayer remains a struggle for me < snip > I persist because I am fulfilling God's command, and also because I believe I am doing what is best for me whether or not I feel like it at the time. Moreover, I believe that my perseverance, in some unfathomable way, brings pleasure to God.

p. 191, Jesus taught a model prayer, the Lord's Prayer, but otherwise gave few rules. His teaching reduces down to three general principles: Keep it honest, keep it simple, and keep it up.

p. 303, In short, prayer allows me to see others as God sees them (and me): as uniquely flawed and uniquely gifted bearers of God's image. I begin seeing them through Jesus' eyes, as beloved children whom the Father longs to embrace.

SIMPLY TUESDAY: SMALL-MOMENT LIVING IN A FAST-MOVING WORLD
We chose Simply Tuesday: Small-Moment Living in a Fast-Moving World, a book by Emily P. Freeman, as our fifth study because Beep had a copy someone had loaned her and it interested both of us. It's the least blatantly spiritual thing we've studied, not filled with tons of Bible verses (although we easily found plenty to support what was written) or focused on the foundations of our faith, but it consistently brought the nitty gritty of life back around to Christ. I really liked this book and would sum it up with words like rest, surrender, contentment, vulnerability, patience, humility, and trust.

p. 74, "Excellence" just becomes a more respectable word for "control", which is a fancy version of "manipulation", which is a physiological word for "sin", and did I really just align "excellence" with "sin"? Maybe I did. Maybe I meant to.

p. 94, True smallness is an invitation to live as I was meant to live, to accept my humanity, and to offer my ability and my inability, my sin and my success, my messes and my masterpieces into the hands of God.

p. 177, Faith doesn't mean waiting for understanding or clarity. Faith means trusting God in the midst of misunderstanding and lack of clarity.

p. 213, You want to embrace a hopeful vision for the future without sacrificing a healthy contentment with the now.

ROMANS
We recently finished going through the Bible's book of Romans for our sixth study. It was encouraging to read about the salvation and freedom that's found in Jesus, the faithfulness and love of God, and the transformation that will happen in our own attitudes and behaviors as we move our focus from ourselves to the cross.

8:23-24, For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

8:38-39, For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future,  nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

And that's that. Three and a half years of Skyble study summed up in one blog post.

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THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful for acetaminophen - easily accessible, affordable, and effective.

What's something you're thankful for?

MUDDY MORNING

We ease into our Thursdays because we're up late on Wednesdays, but last week I reminded the kids over breakfast that we still needed to take care of some school and house things when we were done eating. Then three kids, a break in the rain, and lots of mud happened.

I went out to snap a few pictures of them. They were silly at first.

Then they smiled.

And huddled.

Then I went inside. A while later I saw Teebs plowing a toy motorcycle and rider through a mud puddle. I liked the shot of mud, boots, jammies, fleece, beanie, and toy.

But I also liked the closeup.

Naomi showed me her muddy hands, but she was actually covered down to her toes.

Devon found some coal in the hole they dug.

I went out one final time and got a picture of the shovel in the hole.

Then they posed one last time with the shovel as a reference point for the depth of the hole shown in the previous picture.

School and housework can wait when siblings want to get fresh air and spontaneously work on a project together mid-morning on a weekday.

ORDINARY DAYS

1/24 - Naomi and Teebs spent a bunch of time playing with cubes, arranging them in a rainbow pattern and eventually seeing if they could make their horizontal row of cubes vertical.

1/26 - Silas learned to make his own harness during his last shift at the station, so he's been rappelling out of a tree in our yard and on this particular day had Naomi join him.

2/2 - A friend had Duck tickets they couldn't use and offered them to Tim, so Silas ditched youth group one night and the two of them took in a basketball game together.

2/6 - A friend and her kids stopped by unexpectedly with two plates of these cookies for our family.

2/7 - Bigs reading picture books to littles ...

... and a kid who struggled to read for years because of an unknown vision problem getting caught up in a chapter book.

THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful for the rain that makes our state so green.

What's one thing that you're thankful for?

DISCONTENTMENT

It was spring but it was summer I wanted; the warm days and the great outdoors.

It was summer but it was fall I wanted; the colorful leaves and the cool dry air.

It was fall but it was winter I wanted; the beautiful snow and the joy of the holiday season.

It was now winter but it was spring I wanted; the warmth and the blossoming of nature.

I was a child but it was adulthood I wanted; the freedom and the respect.

I was twenty but it was thirty I wanted; to be mature and sophisticated.

I was middle-aged but it was twenty I wanted; the youth and the free spirit.

I was retired but it was middle-age I wanted; the presence of mind without limitations.

My life was over but I never got what I wanted.

~ an unnamed fourteen year old boy, quoted by Linda Dillow in Calm My Anxious Heart: A Woman's Guide to Finding Contentment, originally from Dr. Charles R. Swindoll's teaching entitled Who Gets the Glory?

Note: I titled this blog post "Discontentment", but the poem/quote itself did not have a title.

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MOVIES I WATCHED: 11/20/16 - 1/21/17

Christmas Candle
After I read the corresponding book in December, the kids and I watched this movie about an elderly couple who has to decide which needy person in their small community most needs a Christmas miracle.

Endgame
Based on the real life success of chess players in Brownsville, Texas, this movie deals with single parenting, death and grief, family dynamics, a school culture that places sports above all else, perseverance, teamwork, friendship, and finding your strengths.

Moana
We used some movie passes we'd been given and saw this in the theater as a family. Based on Polynesian mythology, this story is about the daughter of a village chief who sets out on an adventure to end the curse that's wreaking havoc on her community.

Oklahoma
This was a little more risque than I anticipated (the woman who sings about how she can't say no to a guy, the man with pornography on his walls, the kaleidoscope that shows it (pictures referenced, but not shown in either situation). It's a story of cowboys from Oklahoma trying to capture the hearts of the women they love while fighting the advances guys with less than noble character who are making toward the same women. Somehow I'd never seen this classic musical.

The Sound of Music
I've seen this movie countless times and the bigs have all seen it at least once, but Teebs hadn't seen it yet. A woman who wants to be a nun, a widowed Captain who runs his home like a soldier, six kids, Hitler taking over Austria, and lots of music.

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THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful for blackout shades.

What's one thing that you're thankful for?

TWO PARENTS DRESSING UP WITH TWO KIDS

Dressing up in our family means not wearing jeans and t-shirts and we had two dress up events on our calendar for Saturday. 

First up, Naomi and I. She was invited to her cousin's birthday party and guests were asked to get fancy for the Paris themed event. Naomi chose a dress and jewelry, then asked if she could wear high heels and eye shadow. Makeup and heels are strictly for playing at home at this point in her life, but they are fancy and so I let her get a little more gussied up than usual. 

I also let her choose what I wore. That meant I wore a blue dress (I put on dresses about once a year), pink flip flops with a big jewel on them (intended as a bit of a joke at my tomboy-ish self's 40th birthday party), and a green headband (it's sparkly, therefore it's fancy). She said it was an "outfit of love", meaning my love for her. Pretty much nailed it! 

The party was fun! Crafts and playing for the girls, chatting for the ladies, and lots of good lunch food for everyone to share.

Next up, Silas and Tim. Silas had been invited to the fire district's awards dinner and Tim was his chauffeur. They busted out their slacks, donned some button down shirts, and Silas grabbed a hat to complete his outfit for a guys' night out. (The event wasn't guys only, but it was definitely guy time for the two of them.)

They enjoyed their evening of a slide show, raffle, good food, and visiting with other people at the event.